Steam-trap



(N0 Model.)

W. o. WHITE.

y STEAM TRAP. No. 248,077'.

Patented 00h11, 1881.

[JV VENTOR N. PETERS. Phmlihopwhtr. Was-Hugin. D C.

UNITED STATES,v

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM o. WHITE, oE LAKE VILLAGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

STEAM-TRAP.

SPECIFICATION forningpart of Letters Patent No. 248,077, dated October 11, 1881.

' Application inea API-i12, isst. (No man.)

Like letters designate corresponding partsv in both gures.

In the drawings, `A represents a closed hollow cylinder, or equivalent vessel, which forms the body ot' the trap. Into this vessel an inlet-passage, B, opens from the steam pipes or heater, from which the trap is designed to col- 2o lect and discharge the water of condensation. In the bottom is a valve, C, which closes an outlet, D, to a pipe that carries away the wai ter discharged from the trap. The containing vessel A has a steamtight cap, la.

My invention consists in a new means of automatically opening the valve C to discharge the water when it has collected in the vessel A to a certain height, and of again closing the valve as quickly as possible after the water l 3o lhas been discharged.

The principle onwhich myinvention is based is that a metallic rod or tube will, when immersed in the water ot' condensation, have a .lower temperature, and consequently will be shorter, than when it is in an atmosphere of steam, so that by using such a rod or tube of proper length sufficient expansion and contraction of the metal, and consequent lengthening and shortening of the rod or tube, willtake 4o place in the two different immersing mediums to alternately open and close the valve, as de- Sired.

In order to secure the required length of rod or tube in a compact space, and capability of 4 5 'self-adjustment under greater or less varia tions ot' temperature in the vessel A, I prefer to apply it in the form of a spiral, E, though I do not confine myself to the spiral form, provided an equivalent is produced, though this '5o form is the best now known to me. I apply this spiral substantially as shown in the drawings-that is, -the lower end of the spiral is attached to the valve C, and the upper end thereof is secured in any suitable way to a crossbar, b, or other sufticient support in the upper part of the vessel A, so that when the spiral is contracted in length it will lift the valve C from its seat, and when it is expanded in length it will force the valve and hold it down on its seat' d, which is, or may be, adjustable to the 6o valve by one or more set-screws,ff. Io make this spiral most efficient it should be tubular, with the walls thereof thin, so that it may quickly receive and give out the heat, and a metal, such as copper, which is a good conductor of heat is, of course, best. In addition to this I .further increase the sensitiveness and quickness of action of thev device by making small apertures g g through the walls of the tube, or the upper and lower parts thereof, so 7o that the steam and water can circulate through the interior thereof, and act both on its inner and outer surfaces.

From the above description the operation of this spiral regulator is obviously inferred. It is so adjusted that before the water of condensation fills the vessel A the spiral will, by being immersed therein, be sufficiently cooled and shortened to raise the valve C from its seat and allow the water to escape through 8o i posed of an outer tube of a less expansible 9o metal and an inner'tube of a more expansible metal for closing and opening a valve, the said ,tubes being straight. ASuch traps require not ,only tubes of metals diliering in expansibility,

but of very considerable length, to ei'ect the 95 purpose, and, moreover, they must have means for the yielding of the valve or the inner tube in case of excessive expansion 5 otherwise the apparatus will be broken. i

By my invention the luse of a coiled tube or roo rod enables me to make a very compact trap,

as the operation does not depend on the length of the case; neither does it require different metals for the different parts; and what is of great consequence, I require no yielding device to prevent damage from excessive expansion, the coiled tube itself yielding to any extent ever required; and I can obtain any amount of expansion and variation by increasing the number or size of the coils. Moreover, the variation in expansion by the immersion of a whole coil at once is very rapid, both in the expansion and contraction.

I will further remark that a spiral tube has been used in connection with a steam-trap, the tube acting simply as a spring1 against the weight ofthe trap itself, which varies according to the amount of condensed water therein. Such a spiral located outside of and not aiiected by the heat in the trap evidently operates on a principle entirely dii'erent from my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A steam-trap composed of a close vessel,. A, having a Water-discharge valve, C, and an inclosed coiled pipe or rod, E, fixed at one end 

